


Everyone Deserves a Christmas Gift

by coccinelle_et_chaton



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrinette, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, Christmas Special, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gifts, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, SADrien, adrien agreste is a pure soul that must be protected at all costs, ladrien, pre-reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 04:56:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8831323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coccinelle_et_chaton/pseuds/coccinelle_et_chaton
Summary: It's Adrien Agreste's first Christmas without his mom. Already giving into the idea that this will be the worst Christmas ever, he is surprised to find there is more people that care about him than he thought. After one of the nicest Christmas dinners he has ever had, and thankful for all the love that surrounds him, he fulfills a task his mother would have wanted him to do.





	

**Author's Note:**

> HEYYAA GREETINGS FROM HELL, I AM NOT DEAD!!  
> How? You ask. How is it that you haven't updated your fics in more than 4 months and you still manage to write a one-shot? I ask myself the same question, friend. *whispers* I am procrastinating from an essay I need to write hehehe. 
> 
> Anyway guys, greetings from grad school hell! I saw the Christmas special and I couldn't help but fangirl at it. Hence, 4376 words later, here is my result. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!

The dining hall in the Agreste mansion had not bubbled with so much warmth and life in quite a while. Eight months, to be precise. This had been a rocky year for the family, the rockiest Adrien remembers. He couldn't recall his parents ever arguing, at least not in front of him. And his mother, she was so patient with his father. So very patient. She would never get mad with him, no matter how many dinner parties he missed, how many birthdays, how many anniversaries.

"Your father has a lot on his mind, Adrien," she would always say, whenever he missed an important event like Christmas, or his birthday. "He works too much for his own good, sometimes he forgets what is important." She would kiss his head. "That's why he has us, to remind him."

He never really understood what his mother meant until she left. Until she ran out of patience and "don't worry, dear's". Yes, his father could be present, but his mind was always elsewhere. He never made an effort to understand what was in front of him, and this became especially certain now that his mother was gone. She was the one always talking sense into him.

The sky above knows he tried, too. Adrien did try. He understood his father, the pain he was feeling, because he felt it too. He wasn't a bad person, just a person that had bad things happen to him. But lately, Adrien had been running out of patience, too.

If it hadn't been for the fact he got away with going to a regular school, and the ring-- that blessed ring that changed everything, he didn't know what he could have been capable of doing. Maybe escape, maybe something worse. But as Christmas approached and snow coated the Parisian landscape, Adrien knew the joy of being Chat Noir would not be enough to pull him out of his gloom this time. Not on his mother's favorite holiday.

 The Agreste mansion had always been bleak and empty, as far as Adrien remembers, but his mother constantly fought back against the dark greys and empty spaces. In spring, she'd flood the main hall with lavender, primroses, and poppies. In summer, the entire place would bloom with sunflowers and cheery piano music. For autumn, she'd coat the living room with fuzzy carpets, soft hand-knitted blankets, and the aroma of freshly baked cookies and hot chocolate. But winter was her favorite. As soon as November ended, she would have the entire house decorated with lights and Christmas figures. She would send for the tallest Christmas tree, which she decorated along Adrien. They would sing Christmas carols at the piano, and would bury the base of the tree with expensive gifts and some of Adrien's own toys, which they always sent to one of the orphanages in Paris. She made Adrien pick the gifts.

"Take the toys you love the most," she always said. It was a little hard for Adrien, knowing that he wouldn't get to play with his favorite toys anymore. But he tried his best. She would cradle him in her arms after delivering the toys and over a cup of hot chocolate she would say, "Everyone deserves a Christmas gift, baby."

"But why do they have to be _my_ toys?"

"Because, the best gift you can ever give anyone is the best part of you, what you love the most, love." As he got older, that actually got easier.

He knew this would be a tough Christmas. He wasn't surprised it would be.

But then, it wasn't.

It wasn't because for the first time ever, Adrien had enough friends to fill up the entire dining hall.  Friends that actually were very worried when he went missing. It wasn't such a tough Christmas because his father was there, present in every form. Because Nathalie and George, contrary to his previous belief, didn't regard him as just a paycheck. They had been watching, they knew him, really cared for him. Even Ladybug went to his rescue when she heard of the news, however that happened.

Adrien felt a knot in his throat as he realized how very lucky he was. This warmth, this joy, he never thought he'd feel lit again. It was a bittersweet moment, this realization. His mother was gone. The where and the why still haunted him, it still chased him in his sleep. But without knowing, he had also gained a treasure of untold proportions. Friends, a family in its own right.

Marinette, Nino, Alya, Chloe. His classmates, they were all there, too. Heck, Mari and Chlo had even called a temporary truce, for as much as he knew. They were sitting across from each other at the table and not once they argued. Not once.

In that moment, with everyone at the table, sharing Christmas dinner and laughing at Mr. Dupain-Cheng's jokes, he had a flash of lucidity. A moment of awareness he could only compare to when he bumped across an Akuma victim while he wasn't transformed. He saw the picture from outside, marveled at everyone being happy-- being happy with him. There was little he could do to contain his emotions.

A tear escaped him along with a tiny sigh.

Yes, this had been a rough year.

"You okay, bro?" Nino muttered, so as to not call everybody's attention.

Adrien sniffed and quickly nodded. "I just… I'm really happy. Thank you for coming here."

Nino grinned warmly. "That's what bros are for."

He felt Chloe squeezing his shoulder and smiling without comment. She was the only one that knew about it, and thanks to some divine intervention, it looked like she planned to keep it that way. Yes, she could be a bratty nuance, but Chloe was like his dad. Not a bad person, just a person that had bad things happen to her.

He turned to Mari, who was beaming at him. And suddenly he remembered.

"Oh no!" he exclaimed. "Mari, your gift!"

The girl paled, and Adrien suddenly realized how his words could be subject of misinterpretation, so he elaborated. "The Christmas hat," he said. "Thank you, I loved it! That was so nice of you, but uh… unfortunately, I think uh… well it was akumatized as far as I know and maybe Ladybug and Chat Noir destroyed it. By accident. Sorry." Adrien sunk in his chair hoping Marinette wouldn't be mad at him. Poor girl goes out of her way to give him a present, and what does he do? He Cataclysms it into oblivion. And just when she was warming up to him.

"Oh," she said. "Don't worry about it, Adrien! It's okay. I'm glad you liked it."

"Plus she can always make you a new one, right?" Alya intervened, looking smug, and causing her friend to turn as red as the cherry tart in front of them.

"I-- uh, eh… heh…"

"She doesn't have to!"

"She doesn't mind," Alya and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng chimed in unison.

"Mom, Alya!" Marinette complained.

"How ever did Santa get a hold of it, though?" Alya asked. "It doesn't make any sense."

Adrien sunk lower into his chair and put his hands in front of him, quite like a cat trying to hide. "That would also be my fault… I uh, well, some mean kids were throwing snowballs at him when I found him, and I gave him my hat because the kids had ruined his."

"You gave away your gift?" Nino said incredulously, suffering from a little secondhand embarrassment because of his friend's poor social skills, if he had to be honest.

"I loved it, Mari," he reassured the girl. "But uh… I felt bad that those kids ruined Santa's hat, especially because he was working so hard to get presents to other kids. So I just… sorry, I wasn't thinking about it. I'm so sorry."

Marinette couldn't care less. She was trying hard not to squeal in front of everybody. This boy was too kind.

Flushed, she smiled, shrugged, and said, "It's okay Adrien. Everyone deserves a Christmas gift!"

Adrien was sure his gasp was loud enough for everybody to hear. He certainly didn't miss his father looking in Marinette's direction, both Agrestes extremely aware of the hidden connotation of those words.

Adrien smiled and nodded. "That's also what I thought."

 

\---

 

After everybody left and everyone in the mansion had gone to sleep, Adrien transformed to fulfill his most important Christmas ritual. He had been stacking gifts ever since October and managed to get a nice pile of them. Before he left to attend to his duties as Santa's helper though, he remembered to place his latest addition into the sack: a small box carefully wrapped in black paper and green bows. He wrote a card and signed with the doodle of a paw. Smiling to himself, he hopped out the window and left for the orphanage in L'Églesie de Magdalene.

He peeked around to check if the coast was clear before sneaking in, as Santa would have it, through the orphanage's main chimney. He landed softly and aided by his night vision, was able to locate the Christmas tree. He was quick about his work and diligently covered the base of the tree with the gifts he had wrapped. Grinning at himself and giddy about what a big surprise the kids would have come the morning, he nodded and disposed to leave.

A small gasp took him by surprise. "Chat Noir!" said a little girl who was hiding behind a couch. She had big brown eyes, tan skin, and one of her front teeth was missing. It was evident she had been keeping guard for Santa, one of her pigtails was coming off loose as a result of her caving into sleep. She couldn't be older than seven.

How did he not see her there before? He gulped, well, too late to make a run for it. Better roll with it.

He bowed down rather ominously. "At your service, princess."

The little girl giggled. "What are you doing here? Where is Santa?"

"Oh… hmm… well, you see, Santa was feeling very tired and Ladybug and I told him we could help deliver presents! He told us the only condition was that no one should see us." He plopped down on the floor and rolled the way a real cat would. "But oh, the shame, I have failed! This princess has seen me!"

The girl laughed again. "I won't tell anyone."

Chat Noir peeked to see her. "Really?"

The girl nodded vigorously, making her pigtails bob with her. "It can be our secret." She offered her pinky finger, which Chat quickly shook.

"It will be our secret, then."

The girl looked around, evidently searching for something.

"What is it, princess?"

"Where is Ladybug?"

"Oh! Well, I am afraid she is not with me right now. We have a lot of gifts to deliver! So we had to split."

"Oh…" the girl's voice deflated a little.

Unable to help himself, Chat said, "Worry not, princess. I shall send her your regards. But for now, this cat must leave." He bowed down.

"Okay." She bit her lip and played with the hem of her shirt. "Chat Noir, wait!" She didn't give him much of a choice. The little girl sprinted out of sight before he could say anything. Moments later, she came back with a drawing and a rag doll with pigtails and a mask. He knew what it was.

"Can you give this to her? I wanted her to have it the other day you were in the street fighting a bad guy, but you left too quick."

Chat gently picked the drawing and the doll. "This is my Ladybug, it's my favorite," the girl explained. "I made it," she said proudly. "And this is a drawing I made of the other day when Christy had the Akumas. This is you," she pointed at a black stick figure with cat ears and a tail. He was smiling. "And this is Ladybug!" She pointed at another figure that was swinging from the Eiffel tower. "And this is me, with Christy."

Chat Noir had to swallow to overcome the knot in his throat. "Thank you, princess. She will love it. But you don't have to give up your favorite doll. Ladybug will understand."

She shook her head. "Sister Ana said that superheroes don't get Christmas gifts," she said, evidently conflicted. "Besides I still have my Chat Noir doll," she chirped.

"Okay then."

"And she also said to Tommy the other day that he should eat or he would be as skinny as you. So I got you cat food. And cookies. Can cats eat cookies?"

Chat laughed so hard he was afraid he'd wake up the entire orphanage. He didn't have the heart to tell her he wasn't a real cat.

"Yes we do."

"Who is there?" Chat heard in the distance. Both the little girl and him looked wide-eyed at each other.

"That's Sister Ana," the girl said. "You have to go!"

Chat nodded. "Can I get a hug from the princess, first?"

The girl gave him a weird look, as if he was violating the most sacred etiquette, but she complied. "Ladybug will be mad you have other girlfriends."

Chat couldn't help but snort. "What?"

"Because boyfriends hug girlfriends. That's what they are for. And Ladybug is your girlfriend, everybody knows that," she said rolling her eyes at him, as if he was the only one out of the loop.

Chat pressed his lips so as to not keep laughing. "Of course, silly me."

"Go now! Or Sister Ana will be mad!"

Chat Noir bowed down. "Farewell, little princess," he said, and went out the way he came.

He went to his usual spot atop Notre Dame to eat his cookies and laugh by himself, not without first leaving the cat food in a nearby alley, where he heard some cats rummaging around for something to eat.

"Merry Christmas, mom," he said to the sky. He knew it was a silly thing to do, pretending to talk with his mom. But it helped ease the pain away. He liked to believe she was listening, somewhere. "I really missed you today," he said. "You would have loved being there, mom. Nathalie helped me decorate, it wasn't as pretty as what you used to do, but it came out nice. And she invited my friends for Christmas. Can you believe that? I thought dad was going to fire her, but he was also happy that there were people in the house. And everyone brought food, and we sang. Then this cute girl in my class, Marinette, I've told you about her. She gave me a gift which I accidentally destroyed with my Cataclysm because I gave it to Santa but then she said…" he choked, and finally, all those mixed emotions burst through him like water through an open dam. "She said everyone deserves a Christmas gift." He kept crying, unable to form words and letting sadness course through him, letting it go as it came. "I really miss you," he sobbed. "I delivered the gifts as we used to do. And this little girl found me, and gave up her favorite doll so Ladybug could have it because she thinks superheroes don't get gifts…" It took him a moment to regain his breath. "Why did you have to leave?"

"Well, well, if it isn't Santa's _chatty_ helper, I knew you'd be out," he heard a cheery voice behind him. Oh no. Ladybug. Why now, when he couldn't stop crying? He didn't want her to see him like this. Did she listen to what he was saying? If she did, she chose to pretend she didn't.

"That pun is all you get for Christmas, alley cat," she teased.

It took Ladybug a few seconds to recognize that the shadow of Chat, festive as it was with the Christmas hat on his head and the red gift sack over his shoulder, was crying. The shaking was not because of the cold.

"Chat?" she said softly, hurrying to his side. "Oh no, Chat, what happened? Are you okay?"

He could do nothing except hide his face and shake his head with a little whimper.

"Do you want to talk about it?"  

He shook his head.

"Okay," Ladybug said, and rubbed his back in circles. The affection only caused Chat to hurt further. He could tell in Ladybug's voice that she was worried about him. "Shh… it's okay, Chat. I'm here."

Without really thinking, just yearning for comfort, he turned to her and pulled her into his arms. Ladybug replied doing immediately the same.

"I don't know what it is, Chat, but… I'm sorry. Is this why you didn't show up when that civilian went missing earlier?"

He nodded.

More or less, what she didn't know wouldn't kill her.

Tying loose strings together, but painfully evading the obvious, she said, "Are things okay? I mean, like, in your house?"

He shook his head and tried to muffle a sob.

"You don't have to tell me," she reassured him. "Just… you know, I'm here."

"My mom went missing early this year," he explained. "Before the ring. No one knows what happened to her."

A sigh escaped Ladybug's lips, feeling her chest tighten at this revelation. A few tears escaped as well. Suddenly a lot about who Chat was made more sense, but it also hurt to know. The free spirt, the outrageousness, the flirting, the joking, it all was stained now. Yes, as Chat, he was all those things. But who knew what happened when the mask went away? She never thought that of all the things, he'd be dealing with something as terrible as the loss of a parent. And without getting Akumatized. Not once.

Her heart twisted with pain. Poor of her cat. Poor whoever was under the mask.

"And my dad is not good at coping with it. I just…" He sobbed. "Christmas was her favorite and I just couldn't stay in the house. It reminded me too much of her." Silence. "Why did she leave?" he whimpered.

Ladybug tightened her hold on Chat, suddenly overflown by both empathy and affection for her partner. She usually knew how to cheer her friends up, and as Ladybug, there was nothing a Lucky Charm couldn't fix. Nothing except Chat Noir's broken heart, she discovered.

"I wish I knew how to make it better, Chat," she said. The boy only answered by snuggling against her.

"Talk about something," he said. "Anything."

"Okay, well, uh… Adrien Agreste's disappearance was a whole ordeal," she said, trying to sound light. "I managed to get someone akumatized," she admitted. "Again."

"Again?" he laughed among the hiccups of his previous crying. "Jealous again, Bugaboo?"

She laughed, still holding him in her arms, and glad he was calming down. "No, not this time. I confused Santa Claus with an akuma because I thought I saw one of your Cataclysms, but I guess it wasn't. Anyway, I thought he had kidnapped him."

He chuckled. "Happens to the best of us."

"Not you."

"Not _yet_."

"And you destroyed Adrien Agreste's gift, by the way," she said.

"Did I?" He faked his best tone of surprise. "How did you know?"

"I came across Marinette Dupain-Cheng when we were making the trap for the akuma," she lied. "She said she made that hat for Adrien."

"Dang, now I owe two gifts. And speaking of gifts, actually…" Chat Noir reached into his bag and produced a box wrapped in polka-dotted paper. "I know you said you didn't want anything, but it's the Christmas spirt. Everyone--"

"Deserves a Christmas gift," she completed the sentence, smiling at him. "You'd be surprised how many times I've heard that phrase today. Thank you, Chaton." She unwrapped the paper and opened the box to reveal a delicate bracelet weaved with black string. Two single charms dangling from it: a ladybug and a black cat.

"I made it," he hurried to say, in case she wanted to accuse him of buy expensive gifts.

"I--" she was left speechless. "Thank you, Chat." She reached behind her back and produced a gift of her own. "See, I knew you would do this, so here you go. Merry Christmas, kitty."

He smiled. "Thanks, bug," he said, and proceeded to tear the red-and-white paper. It revealed a hand-knitted beanie with space for his cat ears and a bag with cookies. "Aw, this is so cool! You made this?" He exclaimed, immediately putting the beanie on, resisting the urge to fake-purr from the softness of the hat. "And cookies, too!"

She nodded. "I knit the beanie, but the cookies, I must say I got them from the Dupain Cheng bakery. I've seen you come to patrol with bags from there, so I figured you must like their pastries a lot."

He nodded, moved by her attention to detail. "Speaking of cookies," he said, popping one into his mouth. "Someone gave me cookies and cat food as a present."

Ladybug laughed. "I am going to need the context for that one."

So he explained, avoiding too much detail so as to not give away his identity, the ritual of gift-giving with his mom and how important it was for him to do it again. He explained about the little girl that busted him, his alibi, then the girl's gift to Ladybug.

"Hence, m'lady," he said, grunting as he struggled to reach the bottom of his sack. "I am but a mere messenger. Merry Christmas, from…" He squinted at the drawing to make out the girl's name. "Linda, an avid fan." He handed out the doll and the drawing to Ladybug, who was close to tears. "And may I just say, Linda was completely rocking your hairstyle, Bugaboo."

She kept glancing between Linda's gift and Chat Noir's sheepish smirk. His eyes glinted against the moonlight with childish cheer. Ladybug sniffed.

"I'm very lucky, you know?"

Chat immediately frowned. "No need to rub that in."

"No, no," she hurried to correct herself. "I mean, I'm so lucky to have met you, Chat."

His ears and tails perked up. "You really think so?"

She nodded.

"I mean… I didn't want to be Ladybug at first, you know that, right?"

He bobbed his head.

"I'm so glad you were able to convince me. Because if you hadn't… well, first I wouldn't have this great gift--"

"You wouldn't be Ladybug, either."

"I wouldn't be Ladybug," she agreed, and then she brushed Chat's cheek, where his tears had dried off against the cold December air. "But the most important thing is that I wouldn't have you as a friend. You are, by far, the strongest person I know."

She held his stare, for the first moment genuinely intrigued by who was behind the mask. She wanted to know.

Chat clicked his tongue before he could start crying again, and pulled her into his arms. "You can be really cheesy when you want to, Bugginette."

Ladybug let a soft sob escape her. She nudged his ribs. "Look who's talking."

They stayed like that for a moment. Just holding each other, delighted in the fact they had the fortune to meet and befriend a kindred spirit.

It was Chat Noir the one to break the embrace. He sighed, then nodded at his gift sack. "I have to go now. I have other presents to deliver."

Ladybug giggled and nodded. "You need any help with those?"

"Not really, there is only one left."

"May I know who it is for?"

He winced and shrugged apologetically. "It's kind of a secret, my lady."

"Of course." She wouldn't admit it to his face, but in that instant, she felt a pang of jealousy.

They helped each other back to their feet and hugged once more before going their own way.

"Thank you, Ladybug."

"That's what friends are for, Chat Noir."

They parted, unknowingly heading to the same direction, through different routes. It was a question of seconds really, a miracle, that Chat Noir did not catch Ladybug turning back into Marinette, nor he caught her sneaking into her room. He assumed she was asleep when he opened the balcony's trap door and found that no, she actually was nowhere to be found.

He cursed as he heard sounds coming from the bathroom.

"Who's there?" Marinette asked from inside the bathroom. "Mom? …Dad?"

Chat Noir hurried to put the little gift on top of her desk and rushed to the exit before she could catch him.

"I said, who's there!" Marinette exclaimed, bursting into the room in full combat position, regardless of the fact she wasn't wearing the magic suit.

With soap still on her face, Marinette realized the presence of the gift immediately.

She went back to rinse the coat of foam and then picked up the gift, suspicious of it. "Was anybody here, Tikki?"

"I didn't see, I heard noise and got out of the way," she answered, still in the jar of cookies she was hiding in.

There was a little card on it.

 

_Merry Christmas, Princess!_

_A very good friend of mine asked me to deliver this gift to you. Perhaps you know him, his name is Adrien Agreste._

_Sorry for destroying the gift you made him, by the way!  Oh, one more thing, he asked me to write this, for some reason:_

 

_Everyone deserves a Christmas gift. Hope you like it._

 

_Love,_

_Your knight in catly armor_

 

Marinette covered her mouth. "I can't believe it."

She opened the box to reveal a necklace with a sunflower pendant. It stole Marinette's breath.

"It's beautiful!" She whispered and hurried to put it on.

Adrien himself had written another card, in his normal handwriting.

 

_It reminds me of you. Thank you for the gift._

 

_-A_

 

From outside her window, Chat had been watching the entire scene, to make sure she liked it. Sunflowers were his favorite, they reminded him of his mother and how she made everything warmer. But after the Christmas dinner, they reminded him of his mother, yes, and at the same time, so much more.

 

The End.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Merry early Christmas, y'all! 
> 
> Leave a review if you have the time <3 Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Coccinelle out!


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